Haven
by dragonrain618
Summary: Deidara knew it had all been a plan, knew that his partner wasn't truly dead...yet, there was still that painful nagging doubt in the back of his mind: what if the plan had failed? SasoDei.


**A/N: I know this was pretty short (only 882 words) but this is only the prologue and, in my opinion, prologues shouldn't be that long. It is just setting up the story :) This is the very first SasoDei story that I have ever written so hopefully you all will like it. The characters will be kept as in character as possible but there will be moments that they might seem out of character because obviously you never see Sasori or Deidara actually caring about someone (though Deidara did look upset when he saw Sasori's body, in my opinion) so I'll be taking liberties on that. After all, this is FANfiction. I would really appreciate reviews and constructive criticism!**

**Its rated M just in case.**

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_"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." _

_-Rabindranath Tagore_

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Prologue: The End of Eternity

A small, barely noticeable breeze blew into the mouth of the cave almost peacefully. However, the events that had transpired only a day before had been anything but peaceful. Even now, the remnants of the battle could be plainly seen. Scattered throughout the cave were the broken bodies of puppets that, prior to this, had been as feared as the puppeteer that had controlled them. Wooden limbs and pieces of the once great puppets rested everywhere.

It looked very much, in Deidara's opinion, like a puppet graveyard…which in a way, wasn't that far from the truth.

Only one puppet held his attention currently, though.

Solemn dark blue eyes gazed down upon the hunched over puppet with messy red hair. Pain flickered briefly within his eyes as they landed on the two swords that had pierced the only fully human part belonging to the feared puppeteer: his heart.

Deidara's eyes moved to the two puppets responsible that lay on either side of the redheaded puppet. Recognition could be seen within his visible blue eye. He remembered clearly what his danna had told him about his first two puppets, the "Mother and Father" puppets. Created out of a "foolish child's idiotic dream," as Sasori had said it, "of being held in the arms of his parents."

As a result, the blonde couldn't help but find the current scene in front of him ironic. With the way the three puppets had landed when they had collapsed, it made it appear as if the two outer ones were embracing the redhead.

Deidara crouched down in front of what had once been his partner and friend, his jaw clenching as he remembered that just twenty four hours before, they had been arguing about art and threatening each other like normal. His eyes fell away from the redheaded puppet and instead they rested on the cold cave floor in front of him. It was too much for him to see this. To see a hollow husk where Sasori had once been.

He took a deep breath, his eyes rising towards the mouth of the cave where the darkening sky could be seen, the sun hanging low as it prepared to disappear below the horizon as if ushering in the night. The blonde knew that if he didn't head back to the base soon, Leader would send someone out to find him and Deidara didn't think it would look all too well to be found by his ex-partner's corpse.

It would be attributed as a sign of mourning which, no matter how true that might be, would be construed then as a sign of weakness.

He sighed quietly as he returned his eyes to the empty puppet, pain flashing once again within his eyes despite knowing the truth. He had known the redhead's plan, a plan to be free of the Akatsuki forever. He had been the one to convince the puppet master to include him within the plan as well. After all, he had never wanted to join the S-rank criminal organization and being forced into joining hadn't exactly encouraged any feelings of loyalty towards the group.

The only person within it who he had respected was… His eyes looked away from the puppet once again.

_Damn it_, the blonde cursed silently, his jaw clenching from a mixture of anger and annoyance. Since when had he become so weak that he was actually hurt by the sight of the corpse? Yes they had been, in a sense, friends almost—but still!

And after all, it wasn't as if Sasori was truly dead. That now empty corpse wasn't his danna. It was just an empty puppet without a soul. However, there was still that nagging doubt in the back of his mind that continued to bring up all of his fears: what if the plan had failed?

"Danna un," Deidara said lowly, his eyes narrowed on the form darkly. "If this plan worked, you better send word after my end of it is upheld…or I swear I will kill you myself un."

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Meanwhile, within an underground long since abandoned base a few miles south of Kirigakure that had at one time been in the possession of Orochimaru, a slowly rising heartbeat could be heard coming from the long cylindrical tube that was connected to the ground and the roof within the middle of the room.

Well, it would have been heard if there had been someone around to hear it.

A strange liquid that almost resembled water resided within the tube to the very top, surrounding the unconscious naked form of the human male within. The male didn't appear to be very old, sixteen at the very most, with red hair that clung to the sides of a young, angular shaped face. Tiny dark eyelashes lay against the pale complexion of his skin, creating a noticeable contrast between the two. The sounds of the heartbeat continued to rise as the being within rose from the dormant state it had been kept within into that of consciousness.

Seconds later, brown eyes shot open and Akasuna no Sasori was, for the first time in nearly two decades, human.


End file.
